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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Mormons Knocked On My Door- A Lesson in Salesmanship Part 2

One of the first things you should know for this article is that Religion is one of my favorite subjects but so is selling. I like to do experiments in how the two relate to each other. The goal of the Mormons is to get you to go to their church and to see things their way. On the other hand my goal is to at least make them question the path that they are currently on because truth is not something that gets handed to you, it’s a journey that constantly takes you in new directions.(at least that’s what I believe)

The Mormons came back today, I was a bit surprised but hey, they work that aggressive angle well. They are really nice guys, one of them you can tell is the salesman and I think he is trying to teach the other one. The last time I talked to these guys they told me they would be back not the next day but the day after. This is actually a good strategy because it makes you seem eager to talk but not too eager you scare the prospect away. Plus they got the callback and as everyone is selling knows the sale is usually in the call back.

Everything starts the same as last time, clean cut guys ready to share the “wonderful” message of the Mormon church. They start by asking me if I have started reading the book they gave me and I tell them I have because I enjoy learning about different religions. Now begins the question and answer portion, a good salesman should be happy to answer any question the customer has. During this part is when I try to start selling him on all the negative aspects of his product but doing this directly never works, the person always feels attacked. The key is to slowly get him to agree with the things you say, same tactic they use, for example: do you believe in rain…. Yes, you believe God controls everything….yes, and you believe god punishes people……yes, So you can assume it doesn’t rain because of something you did? That is absurd but because of the line of questions, if your not on your toes, you might believe it. That wasn’t a great example but you get the picture. This tactic works wonders for stumping people that are not expecting it. This is the perfect moment to pull out two cards at once. The first is the vulnerability card, sharing a story that relates to the subject and reveals vulnerability allows them to believe you trust them and they can believe what you say. The next card is the card of greater knowledge, whether it be experience or just book knowledge they have to believe that you can teach them something about anything. The vulnerability builds trust and the knowledge builds the power. Now they are listening to you and believe the things you tell them. This is the fertile ground where the seeds can be planted.

So now you know and knowing is half the battle…. that’s what the Transformers used to tell me anyway. Stay tuned for the follow up to how my 3rd meeting with the Mormons will go and an overview of everything.